If you’re a fan of 3D fighting games, you should know that Virtua Fighter is the best one. Look, I don’t make the rules, and I don’t have time to get into an argument about it. So it is with much excitement that we look forward to the newest game in the series, Virtua Fighter Crossroads, which is set to release next year, in 2027, for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. As SEGA continue to build up the hype for this latest entry, we’re getting a brand new trailer showcasing the game’s story mode and its main antagonist the Bakunawa Killer, a mask-wearing assassin, who’s out there attacking martial artists. If you’re a fan of the series, though, you might have an inkling about his identity.
We get to see newcomer Cielo and series slatwart Pai investigating the mysterious bad guy, and yet when they eventually meet, and his mask is knocked from his face, Pai seems to recognise the man. Could that be because it’s her father, Lau? The moveset here is certainly very familiar, his Koen-Ken wushu style standing out with the hands held behind the back, but when we’ve seen him before, he’s been an old man and has been suffering from a disease for a number of years in the VF timeline. Quite how, or why, he’s de-aged could be a central point to the story.
An alternative, I suppose, would be a secret brother, who was thought lost or killed in the past, or, Lei-Fei, a Shaolin monk who was obsessed with learning the Koen-Ken style, may have finally found out its secrets, and turned fully down a dark path. We’ll have to wait and see, I suppose!
Coming from RGG Studios, there’s definitely a good deal of their experience with the Yakuza series seeping into Virtua Fighter Crossroads, though that, in itself, is really just the series coming full circle. The combat from Virtua Fighter became the foundation for that in Sega’s iconic Shenmue series, which was then a precursor to Yakuza. If anything, the narrative mode here makes the most sense of anything ever.
Stay tuned for more on Virtua Fighter Crossroads!
